Truth and Consequences
by maxxysmommy
Summary: How I would like the first episode of Season 10 to go, my first fic. 3rd and final chapter now added, please please please read and review again ppl :
1. Chapter 1

Set in the immediate aftermath of 9x24

Ziva stood leant against the railings, looking out over the water lost in thought. It seemed so calm in comparison to the scene behind her, the shocking visage of the NCIS building bearing the scars of the day's earlier attack.

Tony watched her silently, contemplating whether or not to disturb her. He was worried, it took a lot to get to Ziva but he knew that the day had taken its toll on her. _There are only so many near death experiences someone can go through before it starts to have an effect, surely?_

He decided he needed to disturb her, make sure she was ok, having hardly seen her since they were rescued from the elevator what seemed like hours ago.

"Penny for em…" he said, making sure Ziva had heard him approach, he didn't want to startle her.

"You would need more than a penny for my current thoughts Tony", she replied, continuing to look over the water, not allowing herself to meet his gaze.

"You can talk to me you know Ziva", he said softly.

"I know". She knew she could talk to him, he was a good listener, the Ray saga had demonstrated that to her but yet she still could not look at him, her mind was frazzled from all the thoughts the day had unleashed in her.

"Come on then, spill", Tony persisted, "they say a problem shared is a problem halved". He was slightly hurt that she couldn't even look at him, their whole relationship was based on lingering looks and unspoken acknowledgements, _had he done something wrong? Was she blaming him for getting trapped in the elevator?_

Ziva opened her mouth as if to say something, but promptly closed it again, Tony could see that she was thinking carefully about the next thing to say, her brow was furrowed with anxiety and he could very nearly hear the cogs whirring in her head trying to construct the appropriate sentence.

Finally she turned to face him, cocking her head to the side slightly, studying his face for a second as he flashed a smile at her. "If we had died today would you have had any regrets", she asked after much consideration.

"I would have regretted taking the elevator", he replied too quickly, engaging his mouth before his brain and instantly regretting it as he saw a flash of hurt in Ziva's eyes. He mentally Gibbs slapped himself for making light of what obviously was a serious question as Ziva turned on her heel to walk away.

"It does not matter if you cannot take things seriously for once in your life1" she stated angrily as she started to walk away. _Why did she have to believe that she could have an adult conversation with him, he was after all the class clown 99% of the time._

"Ziva wait…." Tony quickly walked after her, catching her arm and spinning her round to face him, feeling his heart ache as he noticed her eyes watering. "I'm sorry, I am taking you seriously I promise".

She nodded at his apology, then noticing that he had slid his hand down her arm and was now gently holding her hand, silently reassuring her that he wasn't going to mess this conversation up any more.

"There would have been some things I would have regretted Ziva yes, especially as I haven't followed my own DiNozzo rules regarding regrets".

"And what would those be?" she asked, wondering what rules Tony DiNozzo could possibly have about regrets.

"Welllllllll I usually believe that it's better to regret something you did than something you didn't do, and that the only things you live to regret are the risks you didn't take" he said, gently squeezing her hand that was still delicately laid in his.

Ziva looked into Tony's eyes, trying to figure out if that deeply prophetic statement was as genuine as it sounded, almost a little surprised when she detected nothing but sincerity. _But he said that he had broken this rule, what risk had he not taken that he was regretting now?_

"Why do you ask Ziva, if we had died today would there have been something you would have regretted doing…or not doing?" Tony asked, wondering what was prompting this conversational direction.

Ziva sighed and broke his gaze, Tony could feel her heart pounding through her hand, and he was starting to worry more.

"Tony I am so confused, I have so many things going round in my head I am not sure what to make of it all at the moment." She took a deep breath and met his gaze once again, "I knew before but today has made it so much clearer to me that life is far too short to waste it on regrets."

"Ziva please tell me what's wrong?" Tony asked, unable to mask the concern in his voice as his took her other hand in his.

Ziva knew that if she told Tony the truth there was no going back, this would either be the day that her life would change forever, in more than one way, or she would end the conversation now and resign herself to never broach it again, it was all or nothing.

She dropped Tony's hands from hers, looking away from him yet again trying to think, knowing that the second she looked into his eyes there would only be one way that the conversation could go. A voice in her head told her 'you have to take the risk' so she steeled herself and turned back round to face him.

"I have feelings Tony", she started, "feelings that I am not supposed to have, feelings that I have tried to deny for so long but are getting stronger with each passing day, feelings that I am unsure how to deal with".

Tony raised his eyebrows, he was hoping so badly that she was referring to her feelings for him, but she couldn't, could she? Why would she have feelings for him? He opened his mouth to say something but she pressed a finger to his lips, silently asking him not to interrupt.

Satisfied he would not speak Ziva dropped her finger and continued, looking into his eyes. "I care about you Tony, a lot more than I'm supposed to, a lot more than partners should care about each other."

Tony's jaw almost hit the floor, he was shocked but inside his heart was doing cartwheels, and he couldn't believe that the beautiful woman in front of him could actually be telling him what he had longed to hear for so long. He hoped that he wasn't suffering hallucinations from his bang to the head in the elevator.

Ziva took Tony's hand in hers and placed it on her chest; he could feel her heart pounding against her ribcage. "This is the effect you have on me," she whispered, "and that's what scares me the most, I cannot control it any more".

Tony took Ziva's hand and placed it on his chest. "Snap", he said as she felt his heart pounding at the same rate as hers. "I care about you too Ziva, a lot, lot more than partners are supposed to, and I have for a long time. But I never ever believed that you would feel the same, I mean why would you, you are beautiful and smart and funny and incredibly loyal and you could have anyone in the world you wanted, why would you want me?"

They just stared at each other for what seemed an eternity, feeling each others heartbeats under their palms, until Tony saw a look of panic flash across Ziva's face and she whipped her hand away and started pacing in front of him.

"But none of this means anything Tony, we can never act on these feelings without there being serious consequences, and not just for the two of us," she continued pacing, not daring to meet Tony's eyes.

"Wha", Tony started to say before Ziva cut him off. "If we acted on our feelings we would become compromised, the integrity of our team would be broken and we could put Gibbs and McGee in danger…"

She was shocked out of her train of thought as Tony grabbed her by the tops of her arms to stop her pacing. "I'm already compromised Ziva, I've already done things that go far beyond us just being partners, why do you think I ended up in Somalia cos it sure as hell wasn't for a holiday!"

"I know," she said quietly as Tony relaxed his grip on her, "but Gibbs would never approve, rule number 12 is 'never date a co-worker' is it not? We would be split up and…."

Tony couldn't take it any more, he didn't care if what he was about to do made her subdue him ninja style, now he had had confirmation that the woman he had adored for what seemed like forever actually returned his feelings, he was going to do something about it! It was something he had wanted to do for so long and he knew it would stop her talking; he placed his hands either side of her face and brought his lips crushing down on hers.

Ziva couldn't believe what was happening, she grabbed his wrists in an effort to stop him, but she couldn't, she found herself giving in. Any resolve she may have had left melted away as with that one kiss he conveyed all his feelings and emotions, she never imagined he could be so tender and dare she say it, loving? She could feel every unspoken word and reassuring touch, there had never been a need for them to communicate in words, as his kiss was demonstrating. She could feel everything bubbling up inside her and knew in that moment that they could never go back.

Tony had prepared himself for a swift kick or punch somewhere to his person but it never came, he felt Ziva relax her grip on his wrists and start to return the kiss. He felt butterflies in his stomach, they had kissed whilst under cover so long ago but it wasn't real, there had been no depth of feeling and emotion as there was now, or so much at stake. He never imagined that kissing her could be that amazing.

As much as they both wished the kiss could last forever, they broke apart with one last flutter of lips on lips, Tony resting his forehead on Ziva's as she released his wrists and moved her hands to cover his on her face. If she wasn't confused before she certainly was now, not about the kiss, that pretty much dissolved any nagging doubt she may have had about Tony reciprocating her feelings, but all her other doubts about her future were still there.

"So what happens now", Tony whispered softly, and then he noticed a stray tear escape down Ziva's cheek, which he wiped away gently with his thumb.

"I….I don't know Tony", she replied, her voice barely audible. "I can't…I need to think….I'm sorry Tony I just….." she stuttered as she removed Tony's hands from her face moving them down between them, intertwining her fingers with his.

She gave him one last lingering look before she let go of his hands. "I'm sorry," she whispered, walking away as quickly as she could, leaving Tony almost heartbroken starring after her, hoping she would turn back but she didn't, she just disappeared into the night.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you so much for the amazing reviews guys, and may I present chapter 2 as requested, let me know again what you think, please please please! Chapter 3 will be following shortly I just have to put the finishing touches to it in between work and child rearing ;)**

Tony debated whether or not he should follow Ziva, opting to let her go for now, he wanted to talk to her but he knew that pressing the issue any more would probably panic her and drive her further away. He couldn't believe what had just happened, he had kissed her, she had kissed him back, and then she had run away. Maybe it was the day's events, emotions were running high, maybe she thought the adrenaline had made her act irrationally, he knew however that he would have done the same in the cold light of any other normal day.

He turned round and walked back to railings, taking up Ziva's earlier position, looking out across the water, looking for answers in the gentle lapping of the water.

"You ok DiNozzo?" a voice startled him out of his reverie. He turned round to find Gibbs standing behind him, looking concerned.

"Yeah Boss", Tony replied sounding far from ok, "how long you been stood there?"

"Long enough," Gibbs stated, giving Tony an all knowing look. He swallowed nervously realising that Gibbs had obviously witnessed what had just happened between him and Ziva. He braced himself in anticipation of the head slap he was so sure would follow, but it never came.

"You not gonna head slap me then Boss?" Tony asked apprehensively.

"And why would I do that DiNozzo?" Gibbs replied. Tony studied his face, looking for anything to tell what he was thinking but as usual Gibbs had his poker face on. _Had he actually seen what happened? Of course he had, Gibbs sees everything, so why is he not slapping me for breaking a rule, especially that rule?_

"Well I may have kinda just broken Rule 12 again," Tony started tentatively, "and I seem to remember that you weren't too happy last time I broke that rule."

He remembered the conversation they had had in Gibbs' basement when he and EJ had been seeing each other, it had been so awkward, he had tried so hard to justify breaking Rule 12 back then, he really had thought that Gibbs would have changed his mind, but he had only succeeded in making him angrier. He knew however that Gibbs had never liked EJ, he liked Ziva at least, maybe it would go better this time?

"Yeah well that was different," Gibbs sighed as he walked round and leant on the railing next to Tony, "I knew that your fling with EJ wasn't gonna last".

"Yeah I know I realise that now", Tony conceded, he had enjoyed being with EJ but he had known from the start that their relationship would never have any longevity. "But that still doesn't answer why you're not annoyed with me this time".

"When you were with EJ I was annoyed that you would break my rule for something so…..flimsy!" Gibbs replied, almost exasperated.

"What do you mean Boss?" Tony was confused and Gibbs was still giving nothing away.

"If you're gonna break a rule at least do it properly DiNozzo!"

"Boss?" Tony was now beyond confused, _what the hell was that supposed to mean!_

Gibbs turned to face him, "You were with EJ because Ziva was with Ray, you thought you had lost your chance to be with Ziva so you were with EJ as a way of papering over that particular crack, avoiding those particular feelings, burying your head in the sand".

"I'm sorry…..what!" Tony spluttered, he could not actually believe what he was hearing, he definitely must have some sort of head injury because there was no way this conversation could actually be taking place in the real world, _could it?_

"I'm not stupid DiNozzo, I have watched the way you two have danced round each other for years, don't think I haven't noticed how you look at each other across the bullpen when you think no-ones watching, your body language, your actions, the situations you put yourselves in, you may not have acknowledged how you feel to each other but I have known this was coming for a long while!" Gibbs almost shouted at Tony in an effort to shock some sense into him.

Tony was absolutely speechless; he had no clue what he was supposed to say. _How did Gibbs know something that he had not properly known himself? Was it really so obvious? How in the hell if it was so obvious had they not even realised themselves? And why had he not called them out on it before?_

His brain couldn't construct any coherent sentence, he opened his mouth to speak and "I" was all he managed to produce.

"It's ok DiNozzo", Gibbs started, seeing that he had stunned Tony into silence. "Most of my rules were born out of sheer common sense, some from experience, but I put Rule 12 in there as a preventative measure, stop people getting hurt and my teams being broken apart".

"I know Boss," Tony said, recovering his speech, "I always thought Rule 12 must have been something to do with….."

"Jenny," was Gibbs one word answer. Tony needed no other explanation; however he was surprised as Gibbs continued.

"I fell in love with her, and she walked away from me," he said sadly, turning back to look over the water, "I never thought after Shannon that I could feel anything like that again, with Jenny I thought I could have that chance, but she chose her career."

"Boss I," Tony started, he felt a lump in his throat, Gibbs had never ever been so open with him and he felt humbled and saddened. He suddenly understood what Gibbs was trying to tell him.

"I know that you and Ziva have never done anything DiNozzo, but you're way past that now, I know that whatever this is that you have is not a flash in the pan, it's been building for too long." Gibbs looked at him dead in the eye giving him a stern command, "I don't want you and Ziva to use Rule 12 as an excuse if that is the only thing that is stopping you from taking things any further".

"It doesn't matter Boss, Ziva would never disrespect you by acting on this anyway, she cares for you too much, and she is worried that we would compromise the integrity of the team," Tony replied sadly, both admiring and cursing Ziva for her unending loyalty to Gibbs.

"Well then you tell her that Rule 12 is cancelled out by Rule 51 and Rule 5 on this particular occasion DiNozzo, do you hear me?"

"You mean 'Never date a co-worker' is cancelled out by 'Sometimes you're wrong' and 'You don't waste good' Boss?" Tony asked, hoping that he had got Gibbs' rules right.

"Yeah DiNozzo that's what I'm telling you," Gibbs replied. "And as for worrying about the integrity of the team, I know that neither of you would ever risk McGee nor I getting hurt, you haven't yet, and I actually think that both of you would go out of your way to protect anyone but each other if the chips were down!"

Tony looked at him mouth agape; again Gibbs had stunned him into silence

"I am not worried about either of your professionalism DiNozzo, I am however worried about your sanity," Gibbs continued. He turned Tony round to look at the NCIS building, "you both could have died in that elevator today, and life is too short to not be with the person you love! You are both single, and now there is NOTHING standing in your way, OK! Do something about it before it drives you both crazy, that's an order!"

"Thank you Boss," Tony whispered as he pulled Gibbs into a huge bear hug, "I don't know what to say but, thank you!"

"DiNozzo don't you go getting all mushy on me now," Gibbs smiled, Tony jumped back letting him go, "no Boss, sorry Boss, wont happen again!"

Tony stood grinning ear to ear; he couldn't believe that Gibbs was giving him the go ahead, it was such an amazing end to such a horrible day, now he just had to go find Ziva…

"Just one thing DiNozzo," Gibbs said, snapping Tony back to reality.

"Yes Boss?" Tony asked, "Anything Boss."

"Ziva has had enough hurt in her life and been treated very badly, if you hurt her I promise you, there will be nowhere on this planet that you could hide that I wouldn't hunt you down and shoot you!" Gibbs said sternly, making sure that he was understood.

"I have absolutely no intention of hurting her Boss," Tony replied adamantly.

"I know DiNozzo," Gibbs said, knowing full well Tony would never hurt Ziva. "I would just leave her for tonight, its been a long day, you should go home and get some rest, allow her to process the day on her own, start fresh tomorrow, I'm gonna need you both on the ball for sorting this mess out," he said gesturing to the NCIS building behind them.

"Yes Boss," Tony smiled. As much as he wanted to rush over to Ziva's apartment he knew that Gibbs was right, besides he was exhausted, he needed a shower, and he needed to formulate what he was going to say to Ziva.

"I won't let you down," he said as he turned to walk to his car, "night Boss!"

"Night DiNozzo," Gibbs replied, turning to once again look out over the water, smiling at the thought that at least one person was happy at the end of the day, but wincing slightly at the thought of all the mistakes he had made that he knew Tony would not.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you so much for the amazing reviews guys, here is Chapter 3, the third and final chapter of my story. All your positive feedback has been overwhelming for my first story; hope this Chapter will do it justice. Keep reading and reviewing people please please please! Much love:***

Ziva awoke to find that she had slept through her alarm, having only managed to drift off to sleep a couple of hours before. Allowing her eyes to adjust to the morning light she saw beautiful blue skies out of her window, not a cloud to be seen, it had been the same the day before, the beauty hiding the horror that was to follow.

She sighed and contemplated calling in sick, she was worried about seeing Tony, she knew that she had done wrong by just leaving him stood there the night before, but she was glad that he respected her enough to just let her go.

She had not been able to sleep for thinking about what had happened, she was annoyed with herself that she had let her guard down, she had revealed far more to Tony than she ever would have on any normal day. The days events had made her vulnerable and emotional, Ziva David did NOT do vulnerable and emotional, EVER! But what had kept turning the cogs in her head was what Tony had said back, he actually felt the same, and he had kissed her, an amazing all encompassing kiss which she had not wanted to end, but she was still scared about the repercussions.

She cursed in Hebrew as she jumped out of bed hurriedly getting washed and dressed before heading off to work, Gibbs had enough on his plate without her calling in sick, she would just have to suck it up and talk to Tony.

When she arrived at the navy yard it was awash with security, agents and cleanup teams, surveying and assessing the damage and looking for any further threats. The damage to the building looked fairly cosmetic, hopefully repairs would not take too long and normal service could be resumed quickly, it was lucky not more people had lost their lives given the proximity of the bomb to the building.

She passed through all the new security measures and started to make her way up to the squad room. As she passed the elevator she felt herself shudder involuntarily, it could so easily have been her final resting place, but luckily it had not, she had survived where many had not and she had the elevator partially to thank for that.

As she entered the squad room it was empty even though it was full of people, many NCIS personnel were missing, either dead or in hospital, replaced by cleaners and builders, computers technicians and more ever present security. Quickly scanning the room she could not see Tony anywhere for which she was slightly relieved, however Gibbs and McGee were, both covered in cuts and bruises, both very lucky given their proximity to the blast.

"Morning Gibbs, McGee," she nodded at each of them as she dropped her bag by her desk and waited for instruction.

"Ziva," Gibbs nodded back, silently assessing her condition.

"Hey Ziva," McGee replied, getting up and enveloping her in a big hug, "how are you today?"

"I am fine McGee, bit sore in places but just thankful to still be alive. How are you?"

"Bit sore too, but good considering," McGee replied.

"And how are you Gibbs?" Ziva redirected the question at her boss, knowing full well he would never admit to any effects of the blast.

"I'm ok Ziva, nothing a nice coffee wouldn't cure," Gibbs smiled at her, extremely glad to see that she seemed ok; he had been worried after the events of the night before that she might retreat back into her shell once again.

"You want me to make a coffee run Gibbs," Ziva smiled at Gibbs' not so subtle hint, she knew he didn't really like the coffee in the break room, and who knew what kind of state the break room would be in anyway.

"Can't think of a better way to start what is going to be a long day," he replied, getting up from his desk and making his way towards the stairs, "gotta go see Vance, will be back soon."

"Will Tony be needing coffee too?" Ziva asked McGee as Gibbs disappeared up the stairs and into Vance's office, wondering why her partner was nowhere to be seen, she hoped he was ok.

"Yeah, he's just in Abby's lab then he's been stuck with some probie in the evidence garage," McGee replied, noting the concern in Ziva's voice, "they gotta re-catalogue all the evidence down there which could take a while as it's a bit of a mess."

"Ooh nice," Ziva grimaced, "I am sure that he will not enjoy that at all, better make it a large coffee."

"Wait till you hear what you gotta do," McGee grinned, trying not to laugh but failing miserably.

"Do not tell me and spoil the surprise for I may not come back if it truly is that bad McGee," Ziva warned, flicking her hair back over her shoulder and heading for the stairs, "be back soon."

When she returned she wished she hadn't as Gibbs led her to the biggest pile of papers she had ever seen in her life, breaking the bad news that they all needed to be sorted back into individual case files, then re-catalogued and put back into their relevant filing cabinets, evidently the bomb had ruined their filing system.

Ziva decided that this was better than having to be in the cold evidence garage all day so she counted her blessings and settled cross legged on the floor amidst her towers of paper, resigned to her long arduous task.

After what seemed like hours she had managed to get through one tower, her large cup of coffee now starting to work its way through she took a break, needing to stretch her legs. She still hadn't seen Tony but she wasn't surprised if the job he was doing was as involved as hers, she would have to wait until the end of the day to speak to him.

She made her way to ladies room, as it was in the middle of the building it had suffered very little damage, quite calm when everything else around her was so chaotic.

As she washed her hands she looked in the mirror and seeing Tony in the reflection she nearly jumped out of her skin.

She turned round and punched him on the arm. "What the hell Tony are you trying to give me a heart attack!" she asked angrily, she was annoyed she hadn't heard him come in or even felt his presence, her usually sharp ninja senses seemingly deserting her.

"Heeeeeeyyyyyyy," he replied rubbing his already bruised arm, "I thought you would sense my presence, I didn't mean to startle you, I just wanted to talk to you!"

"In the ladies room!" Ziva replied indignantly.

"Well everywhere else is so messy and crazy," Tony replied, "I couldn't wait till the end of the day to speak to you, and the probie is driving me a lil crazy downstairs I had to escape for a bit."

Ziva's face softened into a smile as Tony grinned at her from across the room; she could imagine the probie driving him up the wall with incessant question asking and babbling. She suddenly felt a little nervous as they continued to just look at each other, she knew that they were both delaying the inevitable but neither knew how to start the conversation.

Finally she broke his gaze and walked back over to the sink, turning round to face him then leaning back against it, Tony watching her the whole time. Ziva decided it was up to her to make the first move; she had walked off and left him the night before after all, leaving him hanging cruelly.

"I am sorry about last night Tony," she started, "I should not have walked off and left you standing there after what had happened between us."

"It's ok," Tony replied, "I know it had been a long, stressful day and I shouldn't have complicated it even more for you." He considered his next line carefully, "I regret the timing but I do not and will never regret kissing you Ziva."

Ziva blushed involuntarily, suddenly needing to look anywhere but Tony's eyes.

"There's something you should know before we continue this conversation," Tony started, "Gibbs kinda saw what happened last night." He half expected Ziva to punch him again, a look of fear flashing through her eyes as she realised the implications of what he had just said.

"That's it then," she said bluntly, "I guess we will be getting reprimanded shortly and then split up."

"Nope," Tony grinned.

"And how do you figure that Tony?" Ziva replied.

"Well we kinda had a little chat about it, Gibbs and I," Tony said, slowly starting to walk towards the sink, which made Ziva walk away from him towards the far wall, "he didn't head slap me or anything, I was very shocked actually after the last time I was….."

"What did he say Tony?" Ziva asked infuriated.

"Well he was very un-Gibbs like actually, he said that he had known that this, whatever it is between us had been coming for ages and he was surprised it had taken as long as it did."

"What?!" Ziva spluttered.

"I know, apparently everyone has known but us. I told him that you would never disrespect his rules and pursue this and he said that Rule 12 is cancelled out by Rule 51 and Rule 5," Tony was still grinning like an idiot.

Ziva looked confused as she tried to remember which particular rules Gibbs was applying to their situation. "Surely you don't mean 'sometimes you're wrong' and don't waste good'?"

"Yeah Ziva that's what he said," Tony replied, watching as her face crumpled up as her brain was trying to process the information he had just given her.

"Are you serious Tony?" she questioned, "you are not just pulling my arm?" she desperately searched his eyes to see if he was telling her the truth, and she could find nothing but honesty, and a twinkle she had not seen before.

"No I am not pulling your arm or your leg or anything else, that's what he said," he was desperately trying to make her believe him. "He's not worried about the integrity of the team or anything else; he doesn't want Rule 12 to be an excuse if we might have something here," he said, gesturing between them both.

Ziva leant back against the wall, slightly embarrassed at the thought of Tony and Gibbs discussing their 'relationship', she couldn't believe that Gibbs was giving them his blessing; he thought that Tony and she were 'good'.

Tony seemed to know what she was thinking. "You can talk to him yourself if you don't believe me."

"That is not a conversation I would relish," Ziva replied, cringing at the mere thought of it.

Tony could see that she was struggling with her inner demons, he had spent the night thinking of what he had wanted to say to her and what he hoped she would say back, but he knew why she was hesitant.

"Ziva," he started, taking a step closer to her, "I know that you have been through a lot, the men in your life always seem to let you down just when you let your guard down enough to trust them." With that he saw the pain in her face as she looked away, remembering Michael and Ray and others before.

"I know why you hold the world at arms length," he continued, "believe me I understand, but you've known me for going on 8 years now, you've seen me at my best and at my very worst, do you not think that you know me well enough by now to trust me?"

"Of course I trust you Tony," she replied without hesitation, her eyes meeting his, "with my life!"

"But do you trust me with your heart?" he asked gently.

"I don't know, I just…" she shook her head and looked back at the floor. She wanted to so badly trust him with her heart but it had been left so fragile by those before him, she didn't know how many times she could patch it back together.

"Did you mean what you said last night?" he asked changing the course of the conversation, seeing he was making her uncomfortable. He took another step closer to her, "I mean I know a lot had gone on and emotions were running high but I meant every word I said to you."

"I meant it Tony," she replied, her eyes still glued to the floor.

"And now you know that we both have feelings for each other, are you happy to just brush it under the carpet and wonder forever 'what if'?" he asked bridging the gap between them with another step.

She didn't want that at all, she knew she didn't, there was nothing she wanted more right now than to jump into his arms and have him kiss her like he had the night before. She finally plucked up the courage to look at him.

"No I don't want to brush this under the carpet but there is a lot at stake for both of us here, you are my partner and my best friend, if we don't work out I don't want to lose that!"

"You will never lose me Ziva I promise you that, regardless of what happens with us," he stated, hoping his eyes would carry all the sincerity he was trying to convey. "I still came for you in Somalia after you shoved a gun in my chest and looked at me liked you hated me, didn't I?"

"Yes you did," she nodded, remembering the total shock and humility she had felt when Saleem had removed her hood and she realised that Tony had risked everything including his life to rescue her, especially after she had treated him so badly beforehand as well. No one else had ever done anything like that for her.

"I'm not asking you to move in with me or get married or have kids just yet," Tony said taking one more step towards her, totally invading her space so he was nearly touching her, "I'm just asking to take you on a date, go out to dinner, see where this goes, I am just asking for a chance that's all Ziva, no commitments, no strings, just a chance."

Ziva looked deep into Tony's eyes, they were pleading with her to let him in so he could prove himself to her, and she felt her heart melting. They were stood so close that she could smell him, not even touching she could feel the electricity between them, the feeling was intoxicating. She broke his gaze again and looked at her shoes, her face hiding behind her hair, her heart beating so hard she was sure it would explode out of her chest.

Tony put his left hand on the wall to the right of her head, using his other hand to sweep the hair out of her face and tuck it gently behind her ear, the intimate action causing her to look up at him. He started to slowly lean his head down towards hers, she could feel his breath on her face and it sent shivers up her spine. He was giving her ample opportunity to move but she was rooted to the spot, her eyes flickering between his eyes and his lips.

As she closed her eyes she felt his lips on hers, mirroring the kiss of the previous evening. It was so soft and gentle; it wasn't about any desperate need to rip each others clothes off, just the need to communicate feelings and emotions.

Tony broke the kiss and as he opened his eyes he saw that Ziva was smiling, her eyes still closed, savouring the feel of his lips on hers. This made him smile from ear to ear; he wished he could capture that look for ever.

"Do I take that to mean that you're giving me a chance?" he asked, twisting one of her stray curls round his finger, resisting the urge to kiss her again.

"Yes Tony," she replied as she opened her eyes, "I would like to give 'us' a go, on two conditions…."

Tony's smile dropped, hoping that she was not about to crush him, "and what would those be?"

"Don't worry Tony its nothing bad, I don't think," Ziva reassured, feeling bad as she saw the look on his face.

"The first one has to be that we keep our relationship out of the office and remain professional at all times, especially until we figure it out for ourselves."

Tony felt his heart lift a little, it was not an unreasonable condition, "that goes without saying I think sweetcheeks, what's the second condition?"

"That we take it slow," she whispered, placing her hand gently on his chest, "please?"

"Anything you want Ziva," Tony smiled, he was expecting much worse than that. "We can do this however you want, I don't wanna mess this up, you mean far too much to me!"

Ziva smiled, Tony had grown up a lot since she had first met him all those years ago, she remembered telling him once that he had to be more respectful when it came to matters of the heart, it appeared that he had listened.

"Good, then you can buy me dinner tonight?" Ziva suggested, knowing that they had much more to talk about, just not in the ladies room at work.

"Anywhere you like," he replied, tucking her curl back behind her ear, leaving his hand to linger on the soft skin on her cheek as they stared into each other eyes.

"We should get back to work," Ziva stated, bursting their little self contained bubble, "people will wonder where we are, I have a paper mountain to sort through and you will have a little lost probie."

"Yeah you're probably right," Tony admitted, wanting the moment to last as long as he could make it, the thought of spending the next 7 or 8 hours in the garage with an annoying probie was not appealing when all he wanted to do was be with Ziva...

"Just one more thing before you leave?" Ziva asked, running her finger down Tony's chest making him shudder at the touch.

"Hmmmmm?" Tony murmured as Ziva looped her finger through his belt loop and gently pulled him towards her, walking backwards until she met the wall.

She snaked her other hand up his body until it was tangled in the hair at the back of his neck as he wound his arms around her waist pulling her so close, then she planted one last searing kiss on his lips.

Breaking the kiss she whispered, "Do you think that will keep you going for a few hours?"

"Oh yeah, definitely something to remember you by," Tony replied breathlessly, feeling like all his birthdays and Christmases had just arrived at once.

"Good," she chuckled readjusting her clothes and smoothing down her ruffled hair, "now we really must get back to work!"

Tony cleared his throat, "yes ma'am," he replied reaching for the door, "ladies first."

As he opened the door Gibbs appeared on the other side.

"Oh hey Boss, we were just…" Tony stuttered, of all the people who could have been standing there, it had to be him!

"Just what, DiNozzo?" Gibbs demanded, trying to keep from breaking out in a huge grin, they looked like two teenagers caught behind the bleachers.

"Just needed to talk to Ziva real quick Boss," Tony replied, all of a sudden feeling very self conscious. He stole a look across at Ziva and saw she was blushing.

"Ok," Gibbs said, looking between them, "all good?"

"All good Boss," Tony replied smiling, knowing exactly what Gibbs meant after their conversation the night before.

"Back to work then," Gibbs chastised light-heartedly, "evidence won't catalogue itself."

"On it Boss," Tony replied hurrying off in one direction and Ziva hurrying off in the other.

Gibbs couldn't contain his huge grin any longer, 'well it's about time!' he thought.


End file.
